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DIRECT PAYMENTS

HASCAS has undertaken several projects and research into Direct Payments and the most significant of these are described in this section of the website.

The most recent research was on the Modernisation of Adult Social Care (MASC)

The Executive Summary of this three year research is reproduced below, with a direct link to the full report.

PREVIOUS WORK ON DIRECT PAYMENTS INCLUDES

The Health and Social Care Advisory Service (HASCAS) was commissioned by the Department of Health to undertake an analysis of Local Authority direct payment policies within England . The overall aims of the analysis were to:

• examine congruence of Local Authorities with, and Local Authority interpretation, of current national policy and guidance

• consider the emphasis on user empowerment with which direct payment policy and legislation is being interpreted at the local level

• evaluate the extent to which local policies and system promote and facilitate access to and take up of direct payments for the range of eligible service users and carers.

Download Report (PDF format) ‘A Content Analysis of Direct Payment Policies within England’ (322kb)

The report presents the findings of the analysis and includes a range of examples from specific council guidelines.

An evaluation of the impact of the social care modernisation programme on the implementation of direct payments (2003 – 2006)

The ‘evaluation of the impact of the social care modernisation programme on theimplementation of direct payments’ is a collaborative study between the Health and Social Care Advisory Service (HASCAS), the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities (FPLD) at the Mental Health Foundation, the Department of Social Work at the University of Central Lancashire and the Graduate School of Social Research at Nottingham Trent University . The project is funded by the Department of Health as part of the Modernising Adult Social Care (MASC) research initiative.

Under the provisions of the Community Care (Direct Payments) Act (1996) disabled people have the legal right to receive payment of community care monies and to purchase their own care based on an agreed needs-led assessment, their eligibility under the Act and their eligibility for a community care payment. Despite a growth over time in the numbers of people in receipt of direct payments, wide variations persist in the availability of direct payments support schemes and in the take up of payments across care groups. This study aims to evaluate the process of direct payment policy implementation and the impact of social care modernisation on the availability of support schemes and on ensuring equity of access for users of physical disability, learning disability, mental health, older persons’ services and their carers.

The research team have used a range of methods to collect data for the study. So far the team have:

• Reviewed the literature on the development of direct payments policy in the UK .

Download Report (PDF Format) 'The Implementation of Direct Payments: Independent Variables & Hypotheses from the Literature' (544kb)

• Interviewed policy makers and other key stakeholders to explore the development of national direct payments policy.
• Conducted a national questionnaire survey of local authorities and support organisations in collaboration with two other research teams.
• Carried out telephone interviews with direct payment leads in local authorities and support organisation co-ordinators from a sample of 50 local areas in England .

The next step is to carry out in-depth case studies of a sample of local authorities to enable comparative analysis of the implementation process (across authorities and care groups) and to identify the factors that support and impede realisation of policy goals. Interviews will be conducted with care managers, service users and carers from each client group.

Study findings will be disseminated nationally to provide analysis and practical solutions to support future development.

For more information contact:

Tina Coldham
Tel : 020 7307 2892
Email Click Here